1.
College football
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It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. No minor league farm organizations exist in American football and it is in college football where a players performance directly impacts his chances of playing professional football. The best collegiate players will declare for the professional draft after 3 to 4 years of collegiate competition. Those not selected can still attempt to land an NFL roster spot as a free agent. Even after the emergence of the professional National Football League, college football remained extremely popular throughout the U. S, in many cases, college stadiums employ bench-style seating, as opposed to individual seats with backs and arm rests. This allows them to more fans in a given amount of space than the typical professional stadium. College athletes, unlike players in the NFL, are not permitted by the NCAA to be paid salaries, colleges are only allowed to provide non-monetary compensation such as athletic scholarships that provide for tuition, housing, and books. Modern North American football has its origins in various games, all known as football, by the 1840s, students at Rugby School were playing a game in which players were able to pick up the ball and run with it, a sport later known as Rugby football. The game was taken to Canada by British soldiers stationed there and was soon being played at Canadian colleges, the first documented gridiron football match was a game played at University College, a college of the University of Toronto, November 9,1861. One of the participants in the game involving University of Toronto students was William Mulock, a football club was formed at the university soon afterward, although its rules of play at this stage are unclear. In 1864, at Trinity College, also a college of the University of Toronto, F. Barlow Cumberland, modern Canadian football is widely regarded as having originated with a game played in Montreal, in 1865, when British Army officers played local civilians. The game gradually gained a following, and the Montreal Football Club was formed in 1868, early games appear to have had much in common with the traditional mob football played in England. The games remained largely unorganized until the 19th century, when games of football began to be played on college campuses. Each school played its own variety of football, Princeton University students played a game called ballown as early as 1820. A Harvard tradition known as Bloody Monday began in 1827, which consisted of a mass ballgame between the freshman and sophomore classes, in 1860, both the town police and the college authorities agreed the Bloody Monday had to go. The Harvard students responded by going into mourning for a figure called Football Fightum. The authorities held firm and it was a dozen years before football was again played at Harvard. Dartmouth played its own version called Old division football, the rules of which were first published in 1871, all of these games, and others, shared certain commonalities

2.
John Heisman
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John William Heisman was a player and coach of American football, basketball, and baseball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. His 1917 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado were recognized as the national champion and he served as the athletic director at Georgia Tech from 1904 to 1919 and at Rice from 1924 to 1927. While at Georgia Tech, he also was president of the Atlanta Crackers baseball team, fuzzy Woodruff dubbed Heisman the pioneer of Southern football. Heisman was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954 and his entry there notes that Heisman stands only behind Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, and Walter Camp as a master innovator of the brand of football of his day. One writer says Heisman, Stagg, and Warner constitute the Football Trinity, the Heisman Trophy, awarded annually to the seasons most outstanding college football player, is named after him. Heisman was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Bavarian German immigrants Sara and he grew up in northwestern Pennsylvania near Titusville, where he played varsity football for Titusville High School from 1884 to 1886, and was salutatorian of his graduating class. Although he was a student, he confessed he was football mad. Heismans father refused to him play at Titusville, calling football bestial. He went on to football as a lineman at Brown University and at the University of Pennsylvania. In constant dread that his immediate teammates—guards weighing 212 and 243—would fall on him and he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1892. In his book Principles of Football, Heisman described his strategy, The coach should be masterful and commanding. He has no time to say please or mister, at times he must be severe, arbitrary, and little short of a czar. Heisman always used a megaphone at practice, Heisman first coached at Oberlin College in 1892. Wrote The Oberlin Review in 1892, Mr. Heisman has entirely remade our football and he has taught us scientific football. Influenced by Yale and Pudge Heffelfinger, Heisman implemented seven-man interference and his best lineman at Oberlin was the half German, half Hawaiian John Henry Wise. Heisman also used a pass and a double pass. Heisman returned to Oberlin in 1894, in 1893 he moved to Buchtel College, where he helped make the first of many permanent alterations to the sport of football. It was then customary for the center to begin a play by rolling the ball backwards, under Heisman, the center began tossing the ball to Clark, a practice that evolved into the snap that today begins every play

3.
Ole Miss Rebels football
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The Ole Miss Rebels football program represents the University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss. The Rebels compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the football history of Ole Miss includes the formation of the first football team in the state and the 26th team on the list of college footballs all-time winning programs. The Rebels posted their 600th win on September 27,2008 when they defeated the Florida Gators 31–30, throughout the 115-year history of Ole Miss football, the Rebels have won six Southeastern Conference titles and claim three national titles. The team is coached by Hugh Freeze. In 1890, Dr. A. L. Bondurant, later the dean of the Ole Miss Graduate School, rallied Ole Miss students to form an athletic department to encompass the sports of football, baseball. The students brought this initiative to reality and in 1893, with Bondurant as the coach, the first team won four of five games during that inaugural football season. One of those wins was the very first football game played by an Ole Miss team. This was on November 11,1893, the next year,1894, Bondurant passed on his coaching duties. Ole Miss Football, a book published in 1980 by Sports Yearbook Company of Oxford, MS, rhea was the first coach at Ole Miss having been hired part-time by Bondurant and having led the 1894 team to a 6–1 record. His name appears as manager of the team as shown in the Ole Miss Magazine dated November 1894, the College Football Data Warehouse also lists Clark as the coach for the 1894 team. Twice in its history, Ole Miss did not field a football team, in 1897, a yellow fever epidemic cancelled the football season. In 1943, football was abolished at all Mississippi state-supported institutions by the state college Board of Trustees due to World War II, nathan Stauffer served as the head coach for the 1909,1910 and 1911 seasons. His record at Ole Miss was 17 wins,7 losses and 2 ties, in February 1925, Homer Hazel signed to become the head football coach at Ole Miss. Hazel coached the team for five years, compiling records of 5–5 in 1925, 5–4 in 1926, 5–3–1 in 1927, 5–4 in 1928 and his five-year record as head football coach was 21–22–3. After the poor showing in 1929, the Ole Miss student body, Hazel resigned his post at Ole Miss in January 1930. Thad Vann, who played for Hazel at Ole Miss from 1926 to 1929, leading Ole Miss into the Southeastern Conference in 1933 was head coach Ed Walker, who served as the Rebels head coach from 1930 to 1937. The Rebels compiled a record of 38–38–8 record under Walker, which included a 9–3 campaign in 1935, under head coach Harry Mehre, who led the Rebels from 1938 to 1945, the Rebels compiled a record of 39–26–1, which included two 9–2 seasons in 1938 and 1940. In his first season at the helm in 1947, the Rebels posted a 9–2 record and that 1947 season also saw Ole Miss great Charlie Conerly become the first Rebel player to be a contender for the Heisman Trophy, placing fourth in the voting for the prestigious honor

4.
Cincinnati Bearcats football
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The Cincinnati Bearcats football program represents the University of Cincinnati in college football. They compete at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level as members of the American Athletic Conference and they have also earned a bowl berth every year, with only two exceptions since the 2006 season. The Bearcat football program is one of the nations oldest, having fielded a team as early as 1885, in 1888, Cincinnati played Miami in the first intercollegiate football game held within the state of Ohio. That began a rivalry which today ranks as the eighth-oldest and 11th-longest running in NCAA Division I college football, robert Burch served as Cincinnatis head coach from 1909-1911, compiling a record of 16–8–2. It was during his tenure that Cincinnati joined the Ohio Athletic Conference, in March 1927, George Babcock was hired as a professor of athletics and physical training at the University of Cincinnati. From 1927 to 1930, he was the football coach of the Bearcats football. Sid Gillman, a member of the College and National Football League hall of fame shrines, was the architect of one of the top eras of Cincinnati football history. He directed the Bearcats to three titles and a pair of bowl game appearances during his six seasons before leaving for the professional ranks. Cincinnati, with Gillman developing the passing offenses which would make him successful in the pro ranks, George Blackburn served as the Bearcats head coach from 1955-1960, compiling a 25–27–6 record. It was during Blackburns tenure, in 1957, that the Bearcats joined the Missouri Valley Conference, chuck Studley left UMass and became the Bearcats 25th head football coach. Under Studleys tutelage, the Bearcats won two championships in 1963 and 1964, However, Studleys teams struggled in his other four seasons. Oklahoma assistant coach Homer Rice was hired as Studleys replacement, after accepting the head coaching position at Cincinnati, Oklahomas coach Jim McKenzie died of a massive heart attack. Upon Jims death, Oklahomas athletic director and president called Homer Rice to request that he return to replace Jim as head coach at Oklahoma and he had already hired his staff at Cincinnati and turned down the Oklahoma job to stay committed to his staff at Cincinnati. Rice compiled an 8–10–1 record in his two seasons at Cincinnati, in 1968, the Bearcats were the nations top passing team. Quarterback Greg Cook was the NCAAs total offense leader with receiver/kicker Jim OBrien the national scoring champ, a year later, Cook earned Rookie of the Year honors as a Cincinnati Bengal. Two years later, OBrien kicked the field goal for the Baltimore Colts in the Super Bowl. Ray Callahan was promoted assistant coach to head coach after Rices departure. After a 4–6 campaign in his first season, Callahans Bearcats posted back to back 7–4 records in 1970 and 1971, However, a 2–9 season in 1972 ended his tenure at Cincinnati

5.
Cincinnati
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Cincinnati is a city in the U. S. state of Ohio that serves as county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the side of the confluence of the Licking with the Ohio River. With a population of 298,550, Cincinnati is the third-largest city in Ohio and its metropolitan statistical area is the 28th-largest in the United States and the largest centered in Ohio. The city is part of the larger Cincinnati–Middletown–Wilmington combined statistical area. In the 19th century, Cincinnati was an American boomtown in the heart of the country, it rivaled the larger cities in size. Throughout much of the 19th century, it was listed among the top 10 U. S and it was by far the largest city in the west. By the end of the 19th century, with the shift from steamboats to railroads drawing off freight shipping, trade patterns had altered and Cincinnatis growth slowed considerably. Cincinnati is home to two sports teams, the Cincinnati Reds, the oldest franchise in Major League Baseball. The University of Cincinnati, founded in 1819, is one of the 50 largest in the United States, Cincinnati is known for its historic architecture. In the late 1800s, Cincinnati was commonly referred to as Paris of America, due mainly to such ambitious projects as the Music Hall, Cincinnatian Hotel. The original surveyor, John Filson, named it Losantiville, in 1790, Arthur St. Ethnic Germans were among the early settlers, migrating from Pennsylvania and the backcountry of Virginia and Tennessee. General David Ziegler succeeded General St. Clair in command at Fort Washington, after the conclusion of the Northwest Indian Wars and removal of Native Americans to the west, he was elected as the mayor of Cincinnati in 1802. Cincinnati was incorporated as a city in 1819, exporting pork products and hay, it became a center of pork processing in the region. From 1810 to 1830 its population tripled, from 9,642 to 24,831. Completion of the Miami and Erie Canal in 1827 to Middletown, Ohio further stimulated businesses, the city had a labor shortage until large waves of immigration by Irish and Germans in the late 1840s. The city grew rapidly over the two decades, reaching 115,000 persons by 1850. Construction on the Miami and Erie Canal began on July 21,1825, the first section of the canal was opened for business in 1827. In 1827, the canal connected Cincinnati to nearby Middletown, by 1840, during this period of rapid expansion and prominence, residents of Cincinnati began referring to the city as the Queen City

6.
Nashville, Tennessee
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Nashville is the capital of the U. S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in the central part of the state. The city is a center for the music, healthcare, publishing, banking and transportation industries and it is known as a center of the country music industry, earning it the nickname Music City, U. S. A. Since 1963, Nashville has had a consolidated city-county government which includes six municipalities in a two-tier system. Nashville is governed by a mayor, vice-mayor, and 40-member Metropolitan Council, thirty-five of the members are elected from single-member districts, five are elected at-large. Reflecting the citys position in government, Nashville is home to the Tennessee Supreme Courts courthouse for Middle Tennessee. According to 2015 estimates from the U. S. Census Bureau, the balance population, which excludes semi-independent municipalities within Nashville, was 654,610. The 2015 population of the entire 13-county Nashville metropolitan area was 1,830,345, the 2015 population of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Columbia combined statistical area, a larger trade area, was 1,951,644. The town of Nashville was founded by James Robertson, John Donelson, and it was named for Francis Nash, the American Revolutionary War hero. Nashville quickly grew because of its location, accessibility as a port on the Cumberland River, a tributary of the Ohio River. By 1800, the city had 345 residents, including 136 African American slaves and 14 free blacks, in 1806, Nashville was incorporated as a city and became the county seat of Davidson County, Tennessee. In 1843, the city was named the permanent capital of the state of Tennessee, by 1860, when the first rumblings of secession began to be heard across the South, antebellum Nashville was a prosperous city. The citys significance as a port made it a desirable prize as a means of controlling important river. In February 1862, Nashville became the first state capital to fall to Union troops, the state was occupied by Union troops for the duration of the war. Within a few years after the Civil War, the Nashville chapter of the Ku Klux Klan was founded by Confederate veteran John W. Morton, meanwhile, the city had reclaimed its important shipping and trading position and developed a solid manufacturing base. The post–Civil War years of the late 19th century brought new prosperity to Nashville and these healthy economic times left the city with a legacy of grand classical-style buildings, which can still be seen around the downtown area. Circa 1950 the state approved a new city charter that provided for the election of city council members from single-member districts. This change was supported because at-large voting diluted the minority populations political power in the city and they could seldom gain a majority of the population to support a candidate of their choice

7.
Lexington, Kentucky
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Lexington, consolidated with Fayette County, is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 61st largest in the United States. Known as the Horse Capital of the World, it is the heart of the states Bluegrass region, with a mayor-alderman form of government, it is one of two cities in Kentucky designated by the state as first-class, the other is the states largest city of Louisville. In the 2016 U. S. Census Estimate, the population was 318,449, anchoring a metropolitan area of 506,751 people. Lexington ranks tenth among US cities in college education rate, with 39. 5% of residents having at least a bachelors degree and this area of fertile soil and abundant wildlife was long occupied by varying tribes of Native Americans. European explorers began to trade with them but settlers did not come in force until the late 18th century, Lexington was founded by European Americans in June 1775, in what was then considered Fincastle County, Virginia,17 years before Kentucky became a state. A party of frontiersmen, led by William McConnell, camped on the Middle Fork of Elkhorn Creek at the site of the present-day McConnell Springs, upon hearing of the colonists victory in the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19,1775, they named their campsite Lexington. It was the first of what would be many American places to be named after the Massachusetts town, the risk of Indian attacks delayed permanent settlement for four years. In 1779, during the American Revolutionary War, Col. Robert Patterson and 25 companions came from Fort Harrod and they built cabins and a stockade, establishing a settlement known as Bryan Station. In 1780, Lexington was made the seat of Virginias newly organized Fayette County, colonists defended it against a British and allied Shawnee attack in 1782, during the last part of the American Revolutionary War. The town was chartered on May 6,1782, by an act of the Virginia General Assembly, the First African Baptist Church was founded c. 1790 by Peter Durrett, a Baptist preacher and slave held by Joseph Craig. Durrett helped guide The Travelling Church, a migration of several hundred pioneers led by the preacher Lewis Craig and Captain William Ellis from Orange County. It is the oldest black Baptist congregation in Kentucky and the third oldest in the United States, I would suppose it contains about five hundred dwelling houses, many of them elegant and three stories high. The country around Lexington for many miles in every direction, is equal in beauty and fertility to anything the imagination can paint and is already in a state of cultivation. Residents have fondly continued to refer to Lexington as The Athens of the West since Espys poem dedicated to the city, in the early 19th century, planter John Wesley Hunt became the first millionaire west of the Alleghenies. London Ferrill, second preacher of First African Baptist, was one of three clergy who stayed in the city to serve the suffering victims, additional cholera outbreaks occurred in 1848–49 and the early 1850s. Cholera was spread by using contaminated water supplies, but its transmission was not understood in those years. Often the wealthier people would flee town for outlying areas to try to avoid the spread of disease, planters held slaves for use as field hands, laborers, artisans, and domestic servants. In the city, slaves worked primarily as servants and artisans, although they also worked with merchants, shippers

8.
Knoxville, Tennessee
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Knoxville is a city in the U. S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Knox County. The city had an population of 185,291 in 2015. Knoxville is the city of the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The KMSA is, in turn, the component of the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette Combined Statistical Area. First settled in 1786, Knoxville was the first capital of Tennessee, the city struggled with geographic isolation throughout the early 19th century. The arrival of the railroad in 1855 led to an economic boom, during the Civil War, the city was bitterly divided over the secession issue, and was occupied alternately by both Confederate and Union armies. Following the war, Knoxville grew rapidly as a wholesaling and manufacturing center. The citys economy stagnated after the 1920s as the manufacturing sector collapsed, Knoxville is the home of the flagship campus of the University of Tennessee, whose sports teams, called the Volunteers or Vols, are extremely popular in the surrounding area. The first people to form settlements in what is now Knoxville arrived during the Woodland period. One of the oldest artificial structures in Knoxville is a burial mound constructed during the early Mississippian culture period, the earthwork mound is now surrounded by the University of Tennessee campus. By the 18th century, the Cherokee had become the dominant tribe in the East Tennessee region, although they were consistently at war with the Creek, the Cherokee people called the Knoxville area kuwandatalunyi, which means Mulberry Place. Most Cherokee habitation in the area was concentrated in the Overhill settlements along the Little Tennessee River, the first Euro-American traders and explorers were recorded as arriving in the Tennessee Valley in the late 17th century. There is significant evidence that Hernando de Soto visited Bussell Island in 1540, the end of the French and Indian War and confusion brought about by the American Revolution led to a drastic increase in Euro-American settlement west of the Appalachians. By the 1780s, Euro-American settlers were established in the Holston. The U. S. Congress ordered all illegal settlers out of the valley in 1785, as settlers continued to trickle into Cherokee lands, tensions between the settlers and the Cherokee rose steadily. In 1786, James White, a Revolutionary War officer, and his friend James Connor built Whites Fort near the mouth of First Creek, on land White had purchased three years earlier. In 1790, Whites son-in-law, Charles McClung—who had arrived from Pennsylvania the previous year—surveyed Whites holdings between First Creek and Second Creek for the establishment of a town, mcClung drew up 640. 5-acre lots. The waterfront was set aside for a town common, two lots were set aside for a church and graveyard

9.
Austin, Texas
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Austin is the capital of the U. S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. It is the 11th-most populous city in the U. S. and it is the fastest growing large city in the United States and the second most populous capital city after Phoenix, Arizona. As of the U. S. Census Bureaus July 1,2015 estimate and it is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 2,056,405 as of July 1,2016. In the 1830s, pioneers began to settle the area in central Austin along the Colorado River, in 1839, the site was officially chosen to replace Houston as the new capital of the Republic of Texas and was incorporated under the name Waterloo. Shortly thereafter, the name was changed to Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the Father of Texas and the republics first secretary of state. The city subsequently grew throughout the 19th century and became a center for government and education with the construction of the Texas State Capitol and the University of Texas at Austin. After a lull in growth from the Great Depression, Austin resumed its development into a city and, by the 1980s, it emerged as a center for technology. A number of Fortune 500 companies have headquarters or regional offices in Austin, including Amazon. com, cisco, eBay, Google, IBM, Intel, Oracle Corporation, Texas Instruments, 3M, and Whole Foods Market. Dells worldwide headquarters is located in nearby Round Rock, a suburb of Austin, residents of Austin are known as Austinites. They include a mix of government employees, college students, musicians, high-tech workers, blue-collar workers. The city also adopted Silicon Hills as a nickname in the 1990s due to an influx of technology. In the late 1800s, Austin was known as the City of the Violet Crown because of the glow of light across the hills just after sunset. Even today, many Austin businesses use the term Violet Crown in their name, Austin is known as a clean-air city for its stringent no-smoking ordinances that apply to all public places and buildings, including restaurants and bars. The FBI ranked Austin as the second-safest major city in the U. S. for the year 2012, U. S. News & World Report named Austin the best place to live in the U. S. in 2017. Austin, Travis County and Williamson County have been the site of habitation since at least 9200 BC. When settlers arrived from Europe, the Tonkawa tribe inhabited the area, the Comanches and Lipan Apaches were also known to travel through the area. Spanish colonists, including the Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre expedition, traveled through the area for centuries, in 1730, three missions from East Texas were combined and reestablished as one mission on the south side of the Colorado River, in what is now Zilker Park, in Austin. The mission was in area for only about seven months

10.
Piedmont Park
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Piedmont Park is an urban park in Atlanta, Georgia, located about 1 mile northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as his out-of-town gentlemans farm and he sold the land in 1887 to the Gentlemens Driving Club, who wanted to establish an exclusive club and racing ground for horse enthusiasts. The Driving Club entered an agreement with the Piedmont Exposition Company, headed by prominent Atlantan Charles A. Collier, to use the land for fairs and expositions and later gave the park its name. The park was designed by Joseph Forsyth Johnson to host the first of two major expositions held in the park in the late 19th century. The Piedmont Exposition opened in October 1887 to great fanfare, the event was a success and set the stage for the Cotton States and International Exposition which was held in the park seven years later in 1895. Both exhibitions showcased the prosperity of the region that had occurred during, in the early 20th century, a redesign plan called the Olmsted plan, was begun by the sons of New York Central Park architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. The effort led to the addition of scenic paths in the park, over the years, the park has also served as an athletic center for the city. Atlantas first professional team, the Atlanta Crackers, played in the park from 1902 to 1904. Several important intercollegiate rivalries were also forged in the including the University of Georgia vs. Georgia Tech baseball rivalry and Georgia versus Auburn football which has called the Deep Souths Oldest Rivalry. In 2008, a ceremony was held for a 53-acre extension to the park. On April 12,2011, Mayor Kasim Reed cut the ribbon to open the first phase of an expansion into the northern third of the park. Additional areas at the far north of the park are to be developed next, Atlanta was a rapidly growing city in the years before Piedmont Park. From 1860 to 1890, the population jumped from 9,554 to 65,533 residents and those years saw the opening of many education institutions such as Morehouse College, Clark College, Spelman College, Morris Brown College, Georgia School of Technology, and Agnes Scott College. Gordon, a distinguished Confederate general, was Governor of Georgia, the area soon to be known as Piedmont Park was owned by Benjamin Walker, who purchased the 189 acres in the 1830s from a man who had won the land in the land lottery. The driving club entered into an agreement with the Piedmont Exposition Company to use the grounds around the track as exposition space, Charles A. Collier, a prominent Atlanta businessman and former lawyer, was president of the company. Soon after, a building, grandstands, and club house were built for the track. The first exposition ever held in Piedmont Park, the Piedmont Exposition of 1887, the main building constructed for the Exposition was 570 feet long,126 feet wide, and two stories high

11.
Atlanta
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Atlanta is the capital of and the most populous city in the U. S. state of Georgia, with an estimated 2015 population of 463,878. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, home to 5,710,795 people, Atlanta is the county seat of Fulton County, and a small portion of the city extends eastward into DeKalb County. In 1837, Atlanta was founded at the intersection of two lines, and the city rose from the ashes of the American Civil War to become a national center of commerce. Atlantas economy is considered diverse, with dominant sectors that include logistics, professional and business services, media operations, Atlanta has topographic features that include rolling hills and dense tree coverage. Revitalization of Atlantas neighborhoods, initially spurred by the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, has intensified in the 21st century, altering the demographics, politics. Prior to the arrival of European settlers in north Georgia, Creek Indians inhabited the area, standing Peachtree, a Creek village located where Peachtree Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River, was the closest Indian settlement to what is now Atlanta. As part of the removal of Native Americans from northern Georgia from 1802 to 1825, the Creek ceded the area in 1821. In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western, the initial route was to run southward from Chattanooga to a terminus east of the Chattahoochee River, which would then be linked to Savannah. After engineers surveyed various possible locations for the terminus, the zero milepost was driven into the ground in what is now Five Points. A year later, the area around the milepost had developed into a settlement, first known as Terminus, and later as Thrasherville after a merchant who built homes. By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents and was renamed Marthasville to honor the Governors daughter, later, J. Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested the town be renamed Atlantica-Pacifica, which was shortened to Atlanta. The residents approved, and the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29,1847, by 1860, Atlantas population had grown to 9,554. During the American Civil War, the nexus of multiple railroads in Atlanta made the city a hub for the distribution of military supplies, in 1864, the Union Army moved southward following the capture of Chattanooga and began its invasion of north Georgia. On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to the Union Army, on November 11,1864, Sherman prepared for the Union Armys March to the Sea by ordering Atlanta to be burned to the ground, sparing only the citys churches and hospitals. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Atlanta was gradually rebuilt, due to the citys superior rail transportation network, the state capital was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868. In the 1880 Census, Atlanta surpassed Savannah as Georgias largest city, by 1885, the founding of the Georgia School of Technology and the citys black colleges had established Atlanta as a center for higher education. In 1895, Atlanta hosted the Cotton States and International Exposition, during the first decades of the 20th century, Atlanta experienced a period of unprecedented growth. In three decades time, Atlantas population tripled as the city expanded to include nearby streetcar suburbs

12.
National Collegiate Athletic Association
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The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a non-profit association which regulates athletes of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations, and individuals. It also organizes the programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The organization is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2014, the NCAA generated almost a billion dollars in revenue. 80 to 90% of this revenue was due to the Division I Mens Basketball Tournament and this revenue is then distributed back into various organizations and institutions across the United States. In August 1973, the current three-division setup of Division I, Division II, under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships, generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. Division I football was divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978. Subsequently, the term Division I-AAA was briefly added to delineate Division I schools which do not field a football program at all, in 2006, Divisions I-A and I-AA were respectively renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision. Inter-collegiate sports began in the US in 1852 when crews from Harvard University, as other sports emerged, notably football and basketball, many of these same concepts and standards were adopted. Football, in particular, began to emerge as a marquee sport, the IAAUS was officially established on March 31,1906, and took its present name, the NCAA, in 1910. For several years, the NCAA was a group and rules-making body, but in 1921, the first NCAA national championship was conducted. Gradually, more rules committees were formed and more championships were created, a series of crises brought the NCAA to a crossroads after World War II. The Sanity Code – adopted to establish guidelines for recruiting and financial aid – failed to curb abuses, postseason football games were multiplying with little control, and member schools were increasingly concerned about how the new medium of television would affect football attendance. The complexity of problems and the growth in membership and championships demonstrated the need for full-time professional leadership. Walter Byers, previously an executive assistant, was named executive director in 1951. Byers wasted no time placing his stamp on the Association, as college athletics grew, the scope of the nations athletics programs diverged, forcing the NCAA to create a structure that recognized varying levels of emphasis. In 1973, the Associations membership was divided into three legislative and competitive divisions – I, II, and III, five years later in 1978, Division I members voted to create subdivisions I-A and I-AA in football. Until the 1980s, the association did not offer womens athletics, instead, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, with nearly 1000 member schools, governed womens collegiate sports in the United States